Longshot Sniper Rifle
The Longshot Sniper Rifle is a high-caliber, single-shot, bolt-action sniper rifle. Use No shooter is complete without a good sniper rifle, and the Longshot fits that category for the Gears. It has a powerful scope that is attached on the weapon that can land pinpoint shots on targets. This weapon is extremely deadly in the hands of an expert, able to dispatch a foot soldier instantly with a well-placed headshot. It also does critical damage on any shot to the body. It is always best to aim for the head, however. The weapon is obviously difficult to use in close quarters. When it's down to the wire, it all depends on luck whether a sniper survives a close quarters fight. The Melee is ok, but it's nothing special. Therefore it's best to keep an extra mid/close range weapon with it. The Lancer Assault Rifle or Gnasher Shotgun are good accompanying weapons for example. However, an experienced sniper can easily take someone out in close quarters with a well placed popshot (pressing the left trigger just before firing) or by executing the "two piece" shot (melee, followed by a shot to the head) the two piece is extremely effective in that even if you don't hit their head, they will at least be downed. Counter-sniper tactics While the Lancer Assault Rifle or the Gnasher Shotgun can be effective accomplices of the Longshot, they are also effective against a player using it. Strangely, the pistols can also be surprisingly effective because of the larger magazines and more rapid rate of fire. This weapon, unlike many other sniper rifles, can only hold one round of ammunition at a time; this means that the sniper must make every shot count if he/she wants to survive. Once the shot is fired, a trail of smoke is left in the direction from which the shot was fired, thus possibly giving away the user's position. One feature of this weapon is that it allows the sniper to keep the scope on even when being shot at, so the sniper can take a little more time to shoot, then move to a better location, then activate the zoom once more. Depending on the difficulty level, it is possible to take down a Boomer with a few head shots by performing perfect active reloads. Due to its longer effective range, higher accuracy, and relatively high power, the Hammerburst is a particularly nasty weapon in a countersniper role. Avoid sniping from open locations (such as the corners of the sheds on River, near where the Longshot spawns) if you know that an enemy is going to be packing the Hammerburst and has the skills to make use of it. Also, due to the long-barrel of the rifle, it sticks out of cover thus allowing opponents to see a headshot coming and take cover. Multiplayer Among the other weapons in multiplayer, this weapon is recommended for long range kills. If opposing players are not careful, they could be killed instantly with a single headshot. This weapon is excellent for taking out players firing a Torque Bow, because of their tendency to slow their movement to aim properly. Players wielding a Gnasher Shotgun perform similar tactics, thus giving a sniper a better chance to either "down" or kill them. With the use of Active Reload, a single shot could down an enemy, though this was changed in Gears of War 2, in which it simply does more damage when landing a Headshot(Useful for taking out some of the stronger enemies, i.e. a boomer). It may be a sign of good team structure if at least one teammate is wielding a sniper rifle. Snipers are vulnerable to attacks from the side or behind because of their limited field of vision, especially while using the scope to zoom in on enemies. A Gnasher Shotgun, Lancer, or Hammerburst best complements the Longshot to compensate for its shortcomings at close range. A disadvantage to the user of this weapon can be their online position in a match. The Host of a match can fire this weapon as they would in local single player, though people connecting to this host will have to deal with latency. Trivia The Longshot's scope will change blue or redish orange depending on the wielder. It is wielded when you defend the coalition of ordered government It's Ben Carmine's standard weapon. This was the same type of weapon that killed Anthony Carmine in the first game. The execution for this weapon is when you down a person and have the Longshot equipped, hit Y to have your character hold it by the very long barrel and bring it crashing onto your opponent's back like a sledgehammer or battleaxe. It is interesting to note when standing in cover with this weapon and holding it with the left hand, the weapon "mirrors" itself: the bolt handle moves from the right side to the left side, as does the scope, which is normally on the right side. Other weapons also have a mirror effect when you flip it side to side while under cover.